Hanson dominates on the mound

Riley Hanson pitched a complete game, one-hitter Saturday to power the Fountain Valley Twins past the Westminster Padres, 2-0, at Westminster Little League.

Hanson struck out 12 and didn’t allow a walk in posting the shutout. Devin Willingham singled to right for the only Padres hit and advanced to second base in the fifth inning but Hanson struck out the next two batters to strand Willingham.

Nick Taylor led of the Twins first inning with a walk and took second on a passed ball. With one out, Hanson hit a fly ball to centerfield and Taylor tagged up, took third and scored when the Westminster third baseman mishandled the throw from center. In the fifth, Hanson led off with a walk and took second on Nathan Young’s fielders choice. With two out, Tanner Motske laced a shot down the third base line that scored Hanson.

The Padres’ pitching trio of Adam Lueto, Brandon Candelaria and Devin Willingham combined to strike out eight and give up just one earned run and one hit with four walks.

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In other Majors action:

Twins 3, Red Sox 2: In a battle between two Fountain Valley Majors teams, Nick Taylor and Riley Hanson combined for 19 strikeouts and the Twins held off the Red Sox in an eight-inning affair March 15. Taylor threw 4 2/3 innings with 12 strikeouts and gave up two runs. Hanson tossed 3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball and struck out seven to get the win.

Offensively, Hanson led all hitters with two hits, his two-out double scoring Simon Costa with the winning run in the eighth. Earlier in the game, the Twins got doubles from Garrett Gilmore (fifth inning), Nathan Young (sixth) and Steven Gonzalez (seventh) but could not get the clutch hit needed off Red Sox reliever Kyle Adams who threw four innings, allowed no runs and the three doubles to go along with eight strikeouts.

In the fourth inning, the Red Sox’s Timmy Knowles drove in Jake Bitzer and Ian Collins also scored on the play by sliding home safely when the Twins hesitated on the relay throw. In the seventh, Knowles made a huge defensive stop when he caught Jon Kerchenfaut’s soft liner to centerfield for the third out to prevent the Twins from scoring the winning run and send the game to extra-innings.

— Steve Motske, Community Correspondent

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Ocean View Little League

Braves 4 vs. Angels 4: The Majors Division teams battled Saturday to a tie score through seven innings and will meet at a future date to determine the winner of the game.

The first inning was full of action for both teams. The Angels’ Brad Vega doubled home Ben McConnel, Dereck Chamacero drove in Anthony Martinez and Steven Kotkosky and Vega also scored to give the Halos a 4-0 edge. The Braves countered in the bottom of the inning by scoring three runs to pull to within 4-3. Braydon Salzman, Jason Mayorga and Nathan Crocker all scored on errors. In the third inning, Crocker scored on another error by the Angels to knot the score.

James Williams started for the Braves and was relieved in the sixth by Mayorga. Martinez started for the Angels and was relieved in the fifth by Brian Schlosser.

— Jennifer Sievers, Community Correspondent

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Minor B Division

Mets 20, Sea Dogs 5: The Sea Dogs scored three runs in the first inning Saturday but the Mets stormed back to win an exciting game.

Nathan Skorheim started on the mound for the Mets who rallied in the second inning to take back control of the game. Jimmy Campbell, Nicholas Skorheim and Tristan Kennedy all had big hits for the Mets but it was Aaron Marchbanks went four for four to steal the show. Lucas Pantel pitched two strong innings and Kennedy closed the game and recorded three strikeouts and didn’t allow a walk.

— Laurie Skorheim, Community Correspondent

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Minor C Division

Iron Birds vs. River Dogs (no score kept): On Saturday, the River Dogs hosted the Iron Birds in a fast paced, coach-pitch game. The Iron Birds’ bats were hot from the start and their momentum carried over to their defensive play as they retired the side in both the second and third innings. The River Dogs woke up in the fourth inning and scored three runs. Gavin Kells, William Lawler, Miles Lopez and Ramon Lopez each went three for three for the Iron Birds whose defensive player of the game was Jack Jernigan who made solid plays at first base and at catcher.

— Marcella Erickson, Community Correspondent

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Farm Division

Sun Devils vs. Bruins (no score kept): In a game played under dark, threatening skies, the Sun Devils and Bruins squared off Saturday. Both teams hit the ball well especially Connor Stephens and Matthew Arguello for the Bruins, and Jaylene Duarte, Kaden Chase and Kyle Donaho for the Sun Devils. Roman Cianca of the Sun Devils made an outstanding catch at second base and later added a dramatic slide at home to the delight of the crowd.

— Kevin Carlin, Community Correspondent